Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaskor88
quink99 Yeah im not pro myself and don't claim that i'm totally right, but what about north star? ain't it relatively simple to take course with it of course it's not 100% right but still. Anyhow the need to know some other way to navigate than with GPS.
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The North Star (Polaris) can, of course, be used for navigation but it would not be to a standard required for navigation in ATC controlled airspace if that was all your friends had unless they declared an emergency with ATC. Other methods available to your friends would include pilotage or comparing what's on the ground to what's on their chart but the drawback here is that it would have to be a VFR type chart such as a sectional chart. Most instrument rated pilots don't carry these anymore and they, of course, would be useless in bad weather as would be the North Star. The North Star could be used for much slower moving things such as in a lifeboat for very primative or emergency navigation.
If you want to pursue this fascinating subject a bit farther then let me recommend two excellent books on emergency or primative navigation both of which are available from Amazon by using the link in the extreme upper right hand corner of almost every page on this site. You'll get them at the usual low Amazon price and you'll help our great forum at the same time! That's a deal you can't beat!
The books are;
Emergency Navigation by David Burch and
Secrets of the Viking Navigators by Leif K. Karlson
It's a fascinating subject which you yourself might enjoy even if your friends aren't interested.